Joshua S. Levy, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
A New York resident, Jean Andre Bontiffe, has admitted guilt in a Boston federal court for using fake United States passport cards to access bank accounts belonging to three Massachusetts residents. Bontiffe, aged 41, faced charges including three counts of bank fraud, one count of forgery or false use of a passport, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Chief U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV has set the sentencing date for May 6, 2025. The charges against Bontiffe were initially filed in October 2023.
Bontiffe's arrest occurred on August 9, 2022, at LaGuardia Airport in New York when he attempted to pass through TSA screening with a counterfeit California driver's license under the name of one of his victims from Massachusetts. Investigations revealed that between July 20 and July 22, 2022, Bontiffe traveled from New York to Massachusetts and made nine attempts to withdraw money totaling $13,800 from accounts owned by three different individuals.
On July 20, 2022, he visited a TD Bank branch in North Andover, Massachusetts. He presented both a U.S. passport and a Discover credit card as identification under the name of a local account holder while attempting to withdraw $4,500. The transaction was denied due to signature discrepancies; subsequently, the bank seized the passport and credit card before Bontiffe fled.
The charge for making or using a forged passport carries potential penalties including up to ten years in prison and fines up to $250,000 along with three years of supervised release. Bank fraud could result in up to thirty years imprisonment with five years supervised release plus similar fines. Aggravated identity theft mandates an additional two-year prison term served consecutively with other sentences.
The announcement came from United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy alongside Matthew O’Brien from the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service's Boston Field Office and Paul Creazzo from the Mamaroneck Police Department in New York. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm is handling prosecution duties.
